Forgiveness and Gifts
by Lauren Wagner
Summary: AWE spoilers: Ragetti is making himself a new eye to fill a hole in his heart as well as his face


Narrowing his eye slightly, Ragetti's tongue poked out from the corner of his mouth as the last piece of excess wood was slowly being removed from his new wooden eye.

"Jus' go' ta git this las' bi' off…" he mumbled to himself. Once the last bit was off, he smiled triumphantly as he held it up to inspect it and make sure that it was as much of a perfect circle as was possible.

Looking around, he found that the rest of the crew was sleeping and so he headed out onto the deck of the ship, the stars and the full moon lighting his way.

…

He had been working on it for weeks now, giving no explanation as to why since it was no longer necessary for any of the Lords to hold onto a Piece of Eight as they had once done.

Ragetti said nothing to these arguments; he just continued to work on making the new wooden eye, an X surrounded by a circle used to mark where the front would be when he finally put it to good use in the hole in his face.

Barbossa became concerned with how intensely his former Piece Bearer was working on the eye and one night he took him aside to talk with him about this obsession of his.

"Ragetti…"

"Aye, cap'n?"

"Why are ye _really_ making this eye o' yers?"

"I aint used ta no' 'avin' 'un." Ragetti said, looking down at the ground as he rubbed at his eye patch; a clear sign that he was not telling the whole truth.

"Lad, yer hiding something from me." Barbossa pointed out. "It's about the power of the old one isn't it?"

Ragetti was silent, looking away.

Shaking his head, Barbossa rested a gentle hand on Ragetti's shoulder.

"Lad, ye know that I had to release Calypso from Her human bonds to try and help us win." He said. "And I'm sorry about yer loss of yer power over the wind but making a new eye won't bring that power back."

"Et migh'…" Ragetti mumbled.

With a sigh Barbossa gave up, patting Ragetti's shoulder once more before leaving him alone.

…

Leaning his back against the railing, Ragetti stared at the wooden eye intently as he tried to pour all of his hopes and dreams into it, closing his eye tightly in deep concentration.

…

He missed being able to control the winds of the sea. The loss of the Eye of Wind made him feel almost incomplete in a way and even while the other pirates at Shipwreck Cove were getting stinking drunk and wild in celebration of the East Indian Trade company's destruction, he stayed away from it all and preferred to sit outside on a ledge, closing his eye as he felt the newly freed winds blowing into his face and gently ruffling his hair.

When the winds died down however, he felt abandoned once more and when Pintel came to him with a bottle of rum to share, he would be surprised to find that his lover did not drink with as much excitement as he thought he should considering they had just survived one of the biggest battles of their lives.

But he could see that Ragetti did not want to talk about it and so Pintel just wrapped an arm around his middle and pulled him in closer for some comfort.

…

"Come on…" Ragetti whispered, holding the wooden eye out in front of him.

He focused on the winds around him, trying to shape them and make them go the way that he wanted them to and after five minutes of nothing, his shoulders slumped as he lowered his arm.

"Et were worth a try…"

"Wot was wort' a try?"

Flinching, he turned around and his eye grew wide in fear as he found himself in the presence of Calypso and he promptly fell to his knees and bowed his head. She was clothed as She had been in Her human form, only now She was soaking wet and had small stone colored crabs at Her feet, clicking their claws together menacingly.

"Wot is da matta?" She asked; Her voice soft and almost like the coo of a dove.

Ragetti trembled badly, shutting his eye tightly in fear. She had not been pleased when last they were together and he was terrified that She had come to have Her revenge on him not only because of the sin his ancestor had committed against Her, but also because of what his captain Barbossa had done to Her as well.

"Git up, child o' Calix." She commanded and he reluctantly got back to his feet, his gaze still on the ground.

"Look at me, child o' Calix." She ordered and when he did so, She was smiling at him kindly, Her lips closed to spare him a glimpse of ink stained teeth.

"Naow…tell ol' Calypso wot is da matta wi' ye?" She purred, opening Her arms wide in a welcoming manner.

Ragetti was silent, his cheeks burning as they turned a deep red color.

"Et's nuffin'…" he lied, looking away once more.

"Do not try ta lie ta a Goddess, boy." She warned him.

Wincing, Ragetti whimpered as he held the eye to his chest tightly.

"Let Calypso see wot you 'ave made."

He hesitated before finally handing it over and as She looked it over, he winced and looked back down at the ground.

"You've got an' eye fer detail." She noted. "Jus' loik yer ancestor." She added sharply. "Naow tell me why you made dis!"

"I jus'…I jus' wanted ta control 'em fer a liddle while longa…" he admitted.

"Mah winds? You wanted mah winds once more? Afta Calix stole dem from me fer centuries?" She demanded; narrowing Her eyes dangerously as storm clouds suddenly began to roll in.

Flinching, Ragetti covered his head with his arms, ready to be struck down or perhaps turned into a seahorse.

"Sorry! Please don' 'urt me, Marm!" he begged Her, tears starting to burn in his eye. "Et's jus' tha' et feels loik somefing is missin' insoide o' me 'eart an'…"

"Your 'eart?"

"Aye…"

She was silent then and when Her silence continued Ragetti slowly lowered his arms and looked up at Her. He found Her staring down at the wooden eye intently, Her head tilted to one side as She thought about something.

"You neva asked me fer anyting afta releasin' me from mah 'uman bonds." She said softly, looking up at him with gentle eyes. "An' when you used the powa o' the eye…you neva wen' o'erboard wi' it. Da winds were always sof' an' gentle when you used dem."

A smile came to Her lips as She closed Her hand over the eye, holding onto it tightly as a flash of lightning streamed across the sky.

Ragetti watched Her curiously, wringing his hands together.

When She opened Her eyes again, She calmly held out the eye to him.

"Wot once was taken, is now freely given." She said. "Do not betray mah trus', child o' Calix. When you find someone who you tink is worthy o' dis powa, gi' it to dem. The powa o' bloodlines is not needed no mores."

Before he could thank Her, She melted into a pile of crabs and promptly fell back into the sea with a soft splash.

He looked down at his new eye with a small smile, his heart starting to race at the idea that he could once more control the winds as before.

"Well go on! Try et ou' then!"

Turning around, he blinked in surprise when he saw Pintel standing behind him.

"Pint?"

"Ye've been actin' differen' e'er since yer eye 'ad ta git burned." Pintel explained. "I figgered this were the reason. So…try et ou' then!"

Smiling for the first time in a long time, Ragetti nodded and as the winds gently wrapped around the two of them, ruffling their hair, he felt complete once more.


End file.
